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The regularity of polysemy patterns in the mind:Computational and experimental data
Get PDFLinguists have often observed that the sense extensions in polysemous words follow patterns. Yet, these patterns have rarely been quantified, and it is unknown whether language users are sensitive to them. We developed four regularity metrics, focusing in this initial study on metaphor patterns that apply to nouns. We further tested adult English speakers’ capacity to understand new senses in an acceptability judgement task. We compared novel senses that followed a metaphor pattern against novel senses that did not respect any pattern. Our results showed that novel senses were judged as more acceptable when they were part of a polysemy pattern as opposed to when they were not. We also assessed whether acceptability judgements were influenced by the degree of regularity of the pattern that they follow. The results confirmed the psychological validity of degree of regularity as a measure: the more regular the polysemy pattern, the more acceptable the new sense following that pattern. Regularity metrics that captured the consistency with which a pattern is instantiated were more successful in predicting acceptability ratings than regularity metrics that captured the number of times a pattern is instantiated. These results motivate future psycholinguistic studies investigating the influence of regularity on learning, processing, and storage of polysemes in a more nuanced way than has been possible previously
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the asylum system
Get PDFRecent years have seen rapid developments in the mobilising of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the purposes of regulating migration, asylum decision-making, and border control. This paper reviews the applications of AI tools in the asylum context and considers their impact across diverse zones of human activity, including law, governance, and administration. Examples from human trafficking and modern slavery are also drawn upon to illustrate the potential of AI to assist more broadly in assessing risk and identifying support needs. Our aim is to review existing research and implementation of AI and its likely impact on outcomes for individuals seeking asylum and victims of trafficking.<br/
International consensus statement on the design, delivery and evaluation of sport-based interventions aimed at promoting social, psychological and physical well-being in prison
Get PDFObjective To develop an international consensus statement to advise on designing, delivering and evaluating sport-based interventions (SBIs) aimed at promoting social, psychological and physical well-being in prison.Design Modified Delphi using two rounds of survey questionnaires and two consensus workshops.Participants A multidisciplinary panel of more than 40 experts from 15 international jurisdictions was formed, including representation from the following groups and stakeholders: professionals working in the justice system; officials from sport federations and organisations; academics with research experience of prisons, secure forensic mental health settings and SBIs; and policy-makers in criminal justice and sport.Results A core research team and advisory board developed the initial rationale, statement and survey. This survey produced qualitative data which was analysed thematically. The findings were presented at an in-person workshop. Panellists discussed the findings, and, using a modified nominal group technique, reached a consensus on objectives to be included in a revised statement. The core research team and advisory board revised the statement and recirculated it with a second survey. Findings from the second survey were discussed at a second, virtual, workshop. The core research team and advisory board further revised the consensus statement and recirculated it asking panellists for further comments. This iterative process resulted in seven final statement items; all participants have confirmed that they agreed with the content, objectives and recommendations of the final statement.Conclusions The statement can be used to assist those that design, deliver and evaluate SBIs by providing guidance on: (1) minimum levels of competence for those designing and delivering SBIs; (2) the design and delivery of inclusive programmes prioritising disadvantaged groups; and (3) evaluation measures which are carefully calibrated both to capture proposed programme outcomes and to advance an understanding of the systems, processes and experiences of sport engagement in prison
Are Exams Authentic Assessment? The Case of Economics
Get PDFExams have traditionally dominated assessment in higher education. Yet, we still do not know if they are authentic assessment, especially in an environment of rapid demographic changes within higher education and evolving perceptions of authenticity. This work offers a method to measure exam authenticity, defined as the overlap between exams and workplace assignments. To measure the overlap, workplace assignments and exams are mapped into a time-type space. The mapping creates a quantitative measure of exam authenticity. The results show that exams produce vital graduate job market skills. Therefore, they are authentic assessment and a necessary component of the post-pandemic assessment mix. The new authenticity measure is scalable and generalizable across fields and could inform policies and practices, such as subject benchmarking and student recruitment. The paper closes with a simple replication guide
Radical Movement-Parties, Political Change and the Epistemology of Elections:Evidence from Lebanon
Get PDFA growing literature seeks to bring agency into the study of movement-parties (M-Ps). Yet studies pay little attention to radical M-Ps which confront acute dilemmas when deciding to contest parliamentary elections in systems they deem illegitimate. This article problematizes radical M-Ps’ entry in elections and the meaning they attribute to the role and function of elections – their epistemology of elections. We examine three M-Ps – Beirut Madinati, LiHaqqi, and Muwatinun wa Muwatinat fi Dawla. We demonstrate that radical M-Ps with a coherent strategy for political change, one that includes an epistemology of elections, are more likely to mitigate and survive electoral dilemmas when entering elections. Radical M-Ps lacking such a strategy risk fragmentation and potential dissolution. Methodologically, we chose Lebanon because 1) during the period under study, it is a democracy and, consequently, a relevant case study for theories of party formation; and 2) it offers a controlled comparison of M-Ps in elections. Moreover, all three M-Ps emerged during a similar time-period, with similar social bases, and, at least originally, radical positions. Research is based on participation in, and observation of, protests and elections between 2011 and 2022, as well as primary and secondary source
Consensus of the definitions of the OMERACT glucocorticoid impact core domain set for people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases
Get PDFBackground: The Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) Glucocorticoid (GC) Impact Working Grouphas been working to develop a core domain set to measure the impact of GCs on patients living with rheumaticand musculoskeletal diseases. The mandatory domains previously identified for inclusion in all clinical trialsmeasuring the GC effects include infection, bone fragility, mood disturbance, hypertension, diabetes, weight,fatigue, and mortality. Before progressing to instrument selection, the Working Group sought to establish precisedefinitions of all mandatory domains within the core domain set.Methods: OMERACT methodology was applied with the use of evidence and consensus-based decision making ofall stakeholder groups (patient research partners, health care professionals, clinician researchers, industrymembers and methodologists) to develop detailed definitions for the broad domain, target domain and domaincomponents, taking into consideration sources of variability that could affect measurement of the domain. Theworking group synthesized prior qualitative studies, quantitative work, and results from Delphi rounds, todevelop a rich definition of ‘what’ is to be measured.Results: Between 2021 and 2023, the OMERACT Working Group on GC Impact conducted virtual meetings toestablish domain definitions. First, we mapped each domain onto an OMERACT Core Area. All domains wereprimarily represented within the Pathophysiological Manifestations Core Area, except from Fatigue which wasprimarily Life Impact and Weight which spanned both Core Areas. Sources of variability included cultural factors, age, gender, education level, socioeconomic status, personal experiences, emotional state, and languagebarriers. The domain definitions will form the foundation for instrument selection and the initial step of domain /concept match and content validity in the OMERACT pillar of ‘truth’ before moving on to feasibility anddiscrimination.Conclusion: The OMERACT GC Impact Working Group has developed and agreed upon detailed domain definitions for core domains. Future steps of the working group are to select instruments and develop the core outcom
Transdisciplinary approaches to addressing factors that influence antimicrobial use in dairy cattle:A scoping review
Get PDFInterest in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) associated with livestock farming is increasing. During the 1990s, 30–40 academic papers a year on the use of antibiotics in dairy farming were indexed on the scientific database PubMed, but this has grown to more than 200 a year in the 2020s. Most (85%) of these papers are published in veterinary or livestock science journals. There has been a corresponding increase in social science interest in why responsible antibiotic stewardship in the livestock sector is so challenging. However, most social science insights are published in journals specific to the lead authors’ field(s), missing opportunities for knowledge translation to veterinary and animal science. This threatens to inhibit the transdisciplinary One Health approaches required to tackle the problem. Between 1 June and 31 December 2021, we undertook a scoping review of papers on the use of antibiotics in dairy farming indexed in PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science. Our aim was to identify studies that incorporate social science approaches and methodologies, and to note the main field of the journal in which these studies are published. Papers were most likely to be published in veterinary science, dairy science and/or livestock science journals (61, 29 and 18 respectively out of 127 papers) and were most likely to be concerned with antibiotic use, prescribing practice, and/or diagnosis (94%, 39% and 33% of included papers respectively). Only 27% of papers meeting our inclusion criteria included a qualitative approach to understanding reasons for antibiotic use. Even fewer acknowledged underlying drivers of behaviour, whereas such reasons are frequently highlighted in social science literature. Thus, to address the global health threat from antibiotic resistance, more work is needed to bring together the disparate but equally valid disciplines, methodologies and researchers working on antibiotic use in the livestock sector
With Haraway and Beyond:Towards an Ecofeminist and Contextual Vegan Ethico-Politics
Get PDFSome ecofeminist scholars have argued that being a feminist entails being a contextual vegan. Donna Haraway has opposed this position and received extensive critique. Yet no one, to my knowledge, has systematically studied how Haraway's theory can enrich ecofeminist vegan literature. To this end, I first establish the method of analysis, and/or framework, I use to read Haraway's work, what I call, interconstitutionality. Next, I delineate the limitations of Haraway's thinking insofar as it assumes a position of human dominion over animals. I then explore some aspects of Haraway's theory that can enrich ecofeminist vegan scholarship and provide insights to go beyond the limits of Haraway's corpus regarding: (1) the entanglements and embodied vulnerabilities that constitute human and non-human animals; (2) the agency of animals and the importance of curiosity and respect in leading just lives with other than human animals; (3) the ethical relevance of otherness, difference, and vulnerability at multiple scales: subject, community/herd, species, and cross-species (e.g., there are shared vulnerabilities between beings who are pregnant regardless of the species they belong to); and (4) the unavoidable violence that human existence entails. The text closes by affirming an ecofeminist non-anthropocentric vegan ontology and ethico-politics that aspires to overcome human dominion over animals
Characterization of Broadband Microwave Signals Using a Photonic Lightweight Speckle Pattern Spectrometer
Get PDFThe operating wavelength and modulation frequencies are the critical components of every communication system. Here, we present a speckle pattern (SP) fiber-based spectrometer using a nominally fixed 852-nm laser to measure and calibrate the wavelength and modulation frequencies of the SP produced in multimode fiber (MMF). The laser wavelength is finely tuned within the 100 GHz range and at a resolution of 2 pm (picometers) by appropriately varying the laser injection currents. The wavelength-dependent SP is calibrated by varying the laser current over a preset range, and a series of wavelength-dependent SP data are recorded. The laser is tuned to the middle of the recorded wavelength range for the modulation frequency calibration, and a standard lithium niobate (LiNbO 3) electrooptic modulator Mach–Zehnder modulator (MZM) is applied. With ten meters of MMF, the incoming radio frequency (RF) is modulated in 5 GHz steps up to 40 GHz at a constant wavelength of 852.555 nm, and the generated SPs are stored separately for spectral processing and training. The wavelength-dependent SPs are trained using artificial intelligence (AI), with a reported prediction accuracy of 98.7% at 2-pm wavelength resolution. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first proof-of-concept of a high-resolution, low-cost SP AI-based spectrometer (SPAIS) that has been experimentally reported to predict the exact values of modulated frequencies from the modulated SPs
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